By IANS
Jaipur : Indicating a division in their ranks, Gujjar leaders have planned two separate events on Nov 3 — a rally in Delhi and a meeting in Jaipur — to intensify their demand for tribal status for the community.
Over 1.5 million Gujjars from 15 states will be in the national capital to attend the ‘swabhiman’ (self-respect) rally, said Sukhbir Singh Jaunpuriya, national head of Akhil Bhartiya Gujjar Sangarsh Samiti.
About 300,000 Gujjars from Rajasthan are expected to participate in the rally, he said.
Another Gujjar faction led by Kartar Singh Bhadana from Haryana has called a meeting in Jaipur on the same day.
“We are not concerned with others. We have called a meeting of our leaders where future course of our strategy would be decided,” a leader of Bhadana’s Bhartiya Janvikas Morcha said.
Gujjars, presently belonging to the other backward classes (OBC), held protests all over Rajasthan from May 29 to June 4 demanding their inclusion into the Scheduled Tribe category for better jobs and educational opportunities.
Normal life was paralysed and at least 26 people were killed in the violence associated with the agitation.